Musing: Fighters

Fighters get a bit of the shaft when it comes to where they learned their trade and what they're all about. Most often this class is seen as something someone can just "decide to be" at one point in their live and that's all there is to it. A farmer decides to make a difference, picks up a sword and starts adventuring, now he's a fighter. Once you break down the class mechanics, the scenario of this class being organically grow as opposed to the specific training of say, a magic-user, simply doesn't make any sense.

 Looking at the class, you can see that he can effectively use ALL weapons and armor. Indeed, over time, he is much more skilled in weapon use then most other classes and certainly more so then a standard city watchman or militia member. They also develop into one of the most physically fit and hardy classes (as evident by their hit dice and saving throw progression). This means they are not simply people how decided to be a fighter, nor someone with some experience in the city watch. These are trained individuals, and those specifically trained for excellence in combat. As stated before, they can use ALL weapons and armor very effectively, no easy task. Someone who spent years training how to use a staff properly, learning the techniques to trip an opponent, strike fast at vital areas, and parry blows directly at him couldn't then pick up a flail or battleaxe and be expected to use it just as well or suddenly be a crack shot with a long bow. He also couldn't throw on a suit of full plate mail for the first time and then be expected to be just as skilled with his weapon. Yet, fighters are those people, they can pick up a sword and use it just as well as a crossbow or throwing daggers or a flail, all weapons that handle very differently. These individuals must have spent years being trained in their use as well as trained physically.

The typical caravan guard or militia are nowhere near this level, nor could they possibly hope to be. In modern comparisons, the watch, militia, guards, etc. are similar to the police and the weekend warriors of the army reserve. They have some training, mostly in specifics dealing with aspects of their job, and they may be very good at that job, but they don't have a well rounded skill set in all weapons, tactics, and other combat aspects. The closest comparison to fighters may be career military, though the military still further breaks down their members into specialties, while a fighter is much more varied in his skill. In Bluestone, the government doesn't train all fighters, they don't have the resources nor manpower to do so, so instead they employ a War College, to train a few people to be fighters in which to lead militias, protect against threats too challenging for the common man, and handle "special projects" that may need to be attended to. The vast majority of fighters are, therefore, trained via private guilds. Like PMCs of today, these guilds attract those that want to make a difference or be the tough guy without having to fall into the government's program (or couldn't pass the requirements the war college has for entry). Guilds become like brotherhoods, those graduating from them will find themselves quickly befriended by past alumni. Rivalries between guilds is also common, mostly on a friendly level (especially when competing against one another in various guild sponsored tournaments) but sometimes things get personal and on rare occasions, deadly. However, the War College has stringent requirements for potential candidates and guilds can be quite expensive (though they are willing to work out loans, repayable with all that adventuring treasure a fighter is known to get), meaning not every citizen with the desire to pick up a sword and slay dragons is going to become a full fledged fighter. A city watchmen is just that, a man with a bit of training in basic weapons, armor, and apprehensions, a fighter, however, is something much more entirely.